Thousands of Indomie Noodle Traders in Yogyakarta Return Home to West Java

Thousands of Indomie noodle warung (food stall) traders in the Yogyakarta region began mass exodus using buses departing from Mandala Krida Stadium to their home towns in West Java on Monday morning, 16 March 2026. Most of these traders operate daily businesses in areas surrounding university campuses in Yogyakarta, including Gadjah Mada University and Yogyakarta State University.

The mass exodus was evident from dawn at the departure point in the parking lot of Mandala Krida Stadium. Traders gathered with their families and queued at buses lined up throughout the stadium grounds.

Iqbal, one trader managing ten combined warung operations from the Sleman region, expressed a preference for travelling by bus over train. “Because the atmosphere of crowdedness is more characteristic of homecoming when travelling by bus,” said the trader from Kuningan, West Java. He plans to return to Yogyakarta on 28 March 2026.

Andra, Iqbal’s colleague, revealed that he has routinely participated in Indofood’s Lebaran homecoming programme for the past eight years. “Travelling by bus simply feels more comfortable. Arriving there in Kuningan is also not much different in time compared to the train, around 4.00 to 5.00 p.m. if traffic flows smoothly,” he said.

Andra noted that for the return journey, they typically share costs to hire a vehicle used communally. “When we return, we’ll pool money for that,” he said.

Nurdin, a trader who has sold in Kotagede for the past 25 years, said he benefited considerably from this free private homecoming facility. “Sometimes you can even win prizes if you’re lucky,” he said.

Indofood CBP Director Suzi Indriani stated that in the Yogyakarta region, the company sent off approximately 1,871 homebound travellers using 34 bus units. “However, nationally, we sent off more than 11,300 traders and their families with a total of 195 bus units, spread across Greater Jakarta, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, and Malang,” she said.

Vice Governor of the Special Region of Yogyakarta Paku Alam X, who flagged off the 2026 Lebaran homecoming, hoped that increasingly more private sector organisations would participate in this free homecoming initiative.